By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
A United States Central Intelligence Agency officer who was personally involved in the illegal controversial destruction of videotapes showing CIA personnel torturing detainees, is now leading the Agency’s operations division. At the center of the affair are nearly 100 recordings of interrogation sessions of al-Qaeda suspects Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. The videotapes were made in 2002 at a CIA black site in Thailand and kept inside a safe at the Agency’s station in the Asian country. The CIA decided to destroy the videotapes soon after May of 2005, when the Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate demanded access to them. In 2007, after The New York Times revealed the destruction of the videotapes, the US Department of Justice ordered two separate investigations into the incident. However, under pressure from the administration of President Barack Obama, no criminal charges were ever pressed. The videotape affair is bound to resurface in the headlines, however, after The Washington Postrevealed on Wednesday that a female CIA officer, who personally ordered the destruction of the videotapes, even though she knew that Congress had asked for them, was recently promoted to one of the CIA’s most senior posts. The officer, whose name cannot legally be revealed, because she remains undercover within the Agency, is currently in charge of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service (NCS), which is responsible for conducting covert action and espionage around the world. Many consider the NCS as the ‘heart and soul’ of the CIA, and it is the first time in the history of the CIA that a woman has led that secretive division. Citing “current and former intelligence officials”, The Post alleged that the officer entered the position in an acting capacity a few weeks ago, following the retirement of her boss. Read more of this post

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
►►German spy chief says end is near for Assad regime. Gerhard Schindler, head of Germany’s BND intelligence agency, said the once 320,000-strong army loyal to Syria President Bashar al-Assad’s government, had lost about 50,000 troops since the uprising against his rule began 17 months ago. This number represents casualties, deserters and defectors to the opposition, he said, adding that “the erosion of the military is continuing” and “there are a lot of indications that the end game for the regime has begun”.
►►Twitter shuts down fake CIA account. The Twitter user @US_CIA employed the agency’s official seal and at first tweeted messages that seemed straightforward enough to have come out of CIA public affairs. Adding to the ruse, the spoof user had a good command of intelligence issues and jargon. Then the tweets grew increasingly wacky and it became clear that the folks behind it weren’t genuine g-men. After The Washington Post‘s Greg Miller asked around about the mysterious Twitter account, it seems the CIA contacted Twitter to have it shut down. CIA spokesman Preston Golson told The Post that “perhaps someday you’ll be able to read official Tweets from Langley, but until then, people can do the old-fashioned thing and check out our Web page”.
►►Canada spy agency suspends employees over security lapses. Two security breaches at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service prompted employee suspensions last year, newly released documents show. In the most serious case, a Canadian Security Intelligence Service employee was suspended for five days without pay following an incident involving information that “must be kept in the strictest of confidence and in full compliance with the need to know principle”. The breach prompted an investigation by the agency’s internal security division, resulting in an ‘injury assessment’ —an accounting of damage from a security lapse.